Bail anchor



May 15, 1934. V w COOPER Re. 19,163

RAIL ANCHOR I Original Filed Feb. 1, 1926 F/G. a 6W rave/l9 IV (av oerReissued May 15, 1934 R 19,163

RAIL ANCHOR Francis W. Cooper, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assignor, bymesne assignments, to The Stead Rail Anchor Company, Limited, Montreal,Quebec, Canada, a corporation of Canada Original No. 1,682,370, datedAugust 28, 1928,

Serial No. 85,356, February 1, 1926. Application for reissue June 10,1930, Serial No. 460,775

40 Claims. (Cl. 238-324) This invention relates broadly to improvementsextra length might perhaps be absorbed in the in rail anchors and moreparticularly to improveloop of the clip but, with the methods ofmanuments in rail anchors of the type shown in facture presentlyfollowed, the surplus length United States Patent No. 1,366,558, issuedthe 25th appears at one end of the other and causes the January 1921, toCooper and Steadworthy, and hook at such end to be excessively long withthe in my Patent 1,618,576, granted February 22, result that the clip isdifficult to apply and is 1927, in both of which a rail is gripped atthe subjected to unnecessary stresses, which frequentedges of its baseflanges between a U-shaped. 1y develop strains operating to lower thechiclamp, or rail gripping member, and a hooked ciency of the anchor. Onthe other hand, if the spring clip, or retaining member. blank is ofinsufficient length, the deficiency is The object of the presentinvention is to proconcentrated in one of the end hooks and the vide animproved form of spring clip which will clip is defective in railgripping power or may be have efficiency at least equal to the clipsformerly useless. According to this invention, such inacdisclosed butcapable of application to and recuracy in the length of the blank isautomatimoval from a rail with greater ease and with cally compensatedfor in a manner to enable the less danger of strain in application. clipto be made with exactitude, and at the same A further object is toprovide a form of clip time, a series of advantages are realized both inwhich may be manufactured with ease and accuthe clip itself and in theproduction thereof, as racy and to provide a method of manufacturingwill be hereinafter fully explained.

the same which will overcome difficulties now In the drawing whichillustrates the invenexperienced. tion;

Various other objects and the advantages of Fig. l is a side elevationof an anchor in opthe invention may be ascertained from the folerativeposition on a rail and exhibiting at the lowing description and thedrawing relating loop end the structural peculiarities embodying wthereto. the present invention. 0

In the patents already referred to, the clamp Fig. 2 is a side elevationof the spring of Figis formed of flat bar metal, bent to a flat-boture1, in the relaxed form assumed when detomed U-shape and notched in theedges of its tached from a rail. arms for reception of the base flangeof a rail, Fig. 3 is aview similar to Figure 2, depicting the w thenotches being so located that when the clamp embodiment of the inventionat the hook end of :2,

is applied to a rail the flat central portion is disthe clip. posedalmost entirely beneath the flange from Referring more particularly tothe drawing, 11 which it depends and in a plane inclined theretodesignates the flanges of a rail base to one of and converging towardthe opposite base flange. which a clamp 12, of substantially the formdisw In the present invention the clamp, or rail gripclosed in thepatents aforesaid, is designed for ping member, is of substantially thesame form attachment as shown, so as to locate its central as disclosedin the first mentioned patent, while or seat portion 13 beneath thatflange of the the spring clip, or retaining member, follows rail base towhich the clamp attaches and in a more the form shown in Figure 4 of mypatent plane inclining toward the opposite base flange.

43 already identified. In that form the clip is a The clip, designatedasawhole by the numeral spring member adapted to underlie the rail base14, is of the general looped form already distransversely thereof,hooked at one end to enclosed, particularly in my patent aforesaid, andgage one flange of the base and looped at the includes a shank or longarm 15 terminating at other end to be engaged in compression between oneend in an upwardly or outwardly turned 45 the underside of the rail baseand the inclined hook 16 and at the other end in a loop 17, the centralportion or seat of the clamp, the intertail portion 18 of which (onoccasion referred to mediate portion of the clip being spaced from asthe short arm) inclines toward the central the rail and being engagedfrom beneath when part of the shank and terminates in an upwardly inoperation by the upturned or hooked extremity or inwardly turned hook 19adapted to have sub- 59 of the bar from which the member is formed.stantially end abutting relation with the shank at It has been found inthe course of manufacture approximately the medial point thereof. The ofclips as just described that some variation 00- shank or long arm isbent or curved downwardly curs in the length of strips or blanks cutfrom or inwardly between its ends, so as to be spaced, in stock forformation of the clips, the variation its central portion, below a railbase when ap- 55 usually taking the form of excessive length. The pliedthereto. This central portion of the shank merges into the loop 17through a substantially flat or slightly reversely curved portion 20. Agradual reverse curvature between the hook 16 and loop 1'7, somewhat asshown in Figure 1 of my patent, is now preferred, for reasons of stressdistribution, to the definitely flat portion adjacent the loop andcomparatively sharp bend into the downwardly curved portion as shown inFigure 4 of the said patent.

Familiarity with the action of the spring clip in application to andremoval from a rail and also in service is essential to thoroughcomprehension of the improvements herein dealt with and of theimportance thereof.

The clamp is first driven firmly on one base flange of a rail and theclip then passed hook end first through the tapering opening between theclamp seat and rail. When the hook 16 has advanced an appreciable partof the distance across the base, both it and the shank adjacent the loopare pressed up against the rail base by engagement of the loop tall withthe upper end of the clamp seat as shown in broken lines, Figure 1.Further advance of the clip can be attained only by application offorce, usually by striking with a hammer on the loop. As this forcibleadvance continues, the short arm or loop tall 18 travels up the inclinedclamp seat and the space 21 which exists between the end of the hook 19and the arm 15 when the clip is relaxed (see Figure 2) is first closedup by flexion of the loop and arms. Upon further advance of the clip,the upward movement of the hook 19, due to the inclination of the clampseat, causes the same to thrust upwardly against the shank withstraightening tendency and usually with resulting fiexion sufiicient tosubstantially straighten the shank. On completion of the driving, thehook 16 passes the edge of the rail base and is forced up to theposition shown in Figure 1 by the tensioned shank, thus partiallyrelieving the tension of the shank which tends to resume its originalcurvature and provide the clearance 22 between itself and the rail base,but Without re-establishing the clearance at 21. It will be noted thatthe curvature of the shank is less when on the rail than when ofl therail and relaxed, thus indicating considerable tension of the shankwith, however, a large remaining resilient capacity to absorb vibrationand maintain the grip of the anchor on the rail in the manner fullyexplained in the Cooper and Steadworthy patent.

The amount of fiexion of the shank during application depends upon thelengths of the hooks 16 and 19 and in service the amount of flexiondepends upon the length of the hook 19. If either hook is improperlylong, the shank is subjected to excess fiexion in application, whichexcess may be suflicient to completely straighten the shank or even bendit in the opposite direction. Such excess curvature unnecessarilystresses the shank and, if the temper of the steel is low, will cause astrain producing a weak sluggish clip with poor marked tendency torecoil if one blow.

' If the hook 16 is too short or is gripping power or very littlereserve resiliency. If the temper is too high breakage will probablyresult. In either case, the clip will be unnecessarily hard to drive andwill exhibit a very not fully driven in If the hook 19 is too long,there will be in addition to the foregoing an excessive fiattening ofthe shank in service, which reduces the flexibility of the clip andcauses premature fatigue of the metal inviting strain or breakage.improperly formed by reason of insuflicient metal available forsatisfactory bending, the hook is liable to slip under the rail base andrelease the clip; while if the hook 19 is too short an effective tensionis not realized and the anchor has very little holding capability. Itwill be seen from the foregoing that the length of the hooks is a veryimportant factor in the proper functioning of the clip.

The term length as applied to the hooks is the effective length and maybe defined as the projection of a hook beyond the general plane of thearm carrying it; thus the length of the hook 19 in Figures 1 and 2 isthe projection inward from the plane of the adjacent surface or face ofthe loop tail 18, which plane is, for convenience of observation,indicated through the hook by the line 23 and hereafter referred to asthe face plane of the tail. The plane of the opposite surface may betermed the back plane. It will be seen by comparison of Figures 2 and Sthat the length or effective length of the corresponding hooks is thesame, whereas the actual length of the hook 19 in Figure 2 is greaterthan its effective length and greater than the actual length of thecorresponding hook in Figure 3.

In manufacture of the clips, as now practised, the first step aftershearing of the blank is the simultaneous formation of the hooks 16 and19. In this operation one end of the blank is butted against a stop orgauge, with the result that the hook formed at this end will he usuallyof proper length, whereas the other will have concentrated in it anyinaccuracy in the length of the blank. Preferably the hook 19 is formedat the gauge and of the blank, so that any error in length, plus orminus, is found in the hook 16.

In order to compensate for error in length of the blanks and in thelengths of the hooks, the blanks are cut slightly longer than would benecessary for formation of square hooks, such as 16 in Figure 2 and 19in Figure 3. The blank is then bent to shape with either or both hooksof actual length intentionally greater than the desired effective lengthand the excess length disposed of by pressure on the end of the hook'inthe direction of hook length and toward the arm, which is unsupported inthe line of such pressure but is supported at a point close to the hook,so that bending of the arm results at the point 24, the bending being ofsuch extent that the hook is driven bodily toward the arm until the hookend is the proper distance from the plane of the adjacent surface or,face of the arm as indicated by the line 23 Figure 3, and hereinafterreferred to as the face plane of the arm. The plane of the oppositesurface may be termed the back plane. Thus, the desired effective lengthis attained. This applies equally to the hook 19 of Figures 1 and 2 andto the hook 16 of Figure 3, or to both hooks if it is desired to formhooks in this fashion. While the error in blank length is usually anexcess of length, it is found desirable to deliberately provide anexcess of length in order to cope with blanks which have been cut short,the intentional excess serving to counteract the shortage and yield ablank which will form a clip with little or no bend or bends 24.

In the bending of hooks, such as the hook 16 of Figures 1 and 2 or thehook 19 of Figure 3, it is difficult to establish a proper angularrelation between the hook and the arm, because of variations in theresistance of the metal to bending or because of the shortness of thehook. Any such difiiculty is overcome when hooks are formed both asherein described, so that perfection in this respect, as well as inlength, results. Clips which have been manufactured by other processesand which are imperfect by reason of malformed or overlong hooks may beperfected by reforming the hooks thereof to the shape herein disclosed.

A very material advantage which has been found to flow from the novelmethod of forming and from the form of hooks is the possibility offorming hooks of very short effective length. In commercial manufacture,it is practically impossible to bend a hook the length of which is lessthan the thickness of the material being bent. Usually, the shortesthook that can be bent is slightly longer than the thickness of thematerial. By utilizing the method herein described, a hook may beproduced much less in effective length than could be otherwise bent.This is of considerable importance in case of the hook 16. It is foundthat for rail gripping purposes the hook, as shown in Figures 1 and 2,is unnecessarily long, but is the shortest that can be bent from thematerial. The unnecessary length is objectionable in that it increasesthe flexion of the shank 15 in driving the clip and renders the drivingmore difficult. Therefore, a hook initially formed like the hook 16 inFigures 1 or 2, for example, may be reformed to reduce the effectivelength thereof as indicated by the dotted line 25 in Figure 3, or may beinitially formed with the same very short effective length. Such veryshort hooks 16 are essential in clips designed for narrow rail bases,where the projection of the shank 15 beyond the hook 19 isproportionately much less than shown in the drawing. It will thereforebe understood that a clip may be provided with a hook 19 set back toform a recoil stop and may also have the hook 16 similarly formed toabsorb excess length of the blank and/or to reduce the effective lengththereof for greater ease of driving and for reduction of stress on theshank in such driving. In short, the clip may be made with either hookor both hooks so formed according as circumstances may render itdesirable or necessary.

In my patent, already referred to, the long arm hooks of clips are shownin Figures 2, 3 and 4 as of formation very similar to that hereinproduced, the objects being (among others) to facilitate bending of thehooks and to remove the point of upward pressure against a rail basefrom the extreme edge thereof. Obviously the same result is obtainedwith the novel form of hooks herein disclosed as regards the point ofpressure against the rail base.

It has been stated previously herein that under certain conditions theclip has a tendency to recoil during driving. The same conditionmanifests itself when the hook 16 is struck down below the rail base forremoval of the anchor. Frequently, the clip will fly out of the clampwhen released and be lost in a ditch or river or in snow, or may evenstrike an incautious workman with sufficient violence to cut or bruise.When the hook 19 is formed, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, there results,on the under or outer side of the tail 18, a projection 26 beyond theplane of the tail and a recess or re-entrant angle in which the upperedge of the seat engages. This projection passes over the clamp seatduring the earlier stages of driving in the clip and before the tensionor straightening of the shank has reached its maximum. When thisprojection has passed the clamp seat, there is ordinarily no furtherincrease of shank tension from this cause, since the bottom of theprojection is normally in a substantially horizontal plane, as will beclearly seen in Figure 1. All further increase in shank tension will bedue to travel of the inclined loop tail over the clamp seat up to themoment the hook 16 is forced up into place. If the clip exhibits anytendency to recoil during the final driving, the projection 26 willconstitute a stop to check such recoil and to hold the clip againstescape from the clamp. The same applies in the operation of removing theanchor. When the hook 16 is knocked down and below the rail base, thereis just enough inherent backing out or recoil effect to draw the hookedge under the rail base but ordinarily not enough to overcome thefriction of drawing the horizontal portion of the projection 26 over theend of the clamp seat. When the clip is unhooked from the rail, theclamp may be loosened and the complete anchor removed easily and withoutdanger of losing the clip.

As a further feature of improvement, it has been found desirable to trimoil the outer corners of the clamp arms, as shown in Figure 1, theformer shape being indicated by dotted lines. The trimming starts from apoint 23 in the outer edge of each clamp arm, about in line with thelower edge 29 of the rail flange receiving notch 30, and produces anedge 27 lying at an angle of about 45 to the side and top edges of theclamp arms and also produces a corner at 28 which in operative positionlies about on a level with the bottom of the rail base. These corners28, which are lower than corners trimmed off, are the points at whichthe clamp is struck in driving it on a rail and the results obtainedwhen striking the clamp at these corners are better than when strikingat the higher corners which are now eliminated. It has also been foundthat formerly the existence of the clamp corners const-tuted what may bedescribed as a mental hazard during driving in the clip and that whenthe corners are removed the clip may be more readily driven.

In forming the notches 30 of the clamp arms, it is preferred to make theangle between the lower and upper edges 29 and 31, respectively,slightly less than the angle between the upper and lower surfaces of therail base flange for which the clamp is designed, usual'y about onedegree less. This causes the clamp to bite most tghtly on the flange atthe open ends of the notches, which condition ensures the greatestdegree of ridigity and stability.

It will be noted the upper and lower divergent edges of the notches areout of normal to the edge of the clamp arms and that the outer end ofthe upper and shorter edge is vertically above a point intermediate theends of the longer and lower edge, when the clamp is applied to a rail,so the point of maximum grip is intermediate the ends of the longer andlower notch edges.

From all the foregoing, it will be seen that in developing the originalconception of a certain form of hook disclosed in a prior applicationfor the purpose of overcoming a serious difficulty, there results, byfortunate coincidence, a series of effluent advantages which may beregarded as of importance almost equal to the perfection initiallysought.

It will be noted that when the anchor is applied to a rail, theinclination of the lower clip arm 18 is slightly less than theinclination of the seat 13 and that the arm bears on the seat only atthe upper or inner end portion thereof and is elsewhere spaced above theseat. It will also be noted that, owing to the curvature of the upperclip arm 15 which spaces. its central portion below the rail base, theclip has two laterally spaced bearing portions engaging the undersurface of the rail base, on opposite sides of the clip engagement withthe clamp seat and that the clip, when flexed in application, willthrust upwardly against the rail base flanges and is unsupportedverticaliy beneath said bearing engagements with the rail base.Moreover, at a point vertically above the bearing of the clip on theclamp seat, the clip is out of contact with the lower surface of therail base and thus has a clearly defined three-point support.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is;-

1. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member including a substantiallystrai ht portion, a hook portion and a reversely curved portionconnecting the hook portion and the straight portion whereby the lengthof the hook portion projecting beyond the face piano of the straightportion is less than the actual length of the hook portion.

2. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip memberineluding a long arm and ashort arm connected together side by side, the short arm being turnedadjacent its extremity away from the long arm and further turned betweenthe first turn and the extremity and close to the first turn but to agreater extent toward the long arm thereby forming an inwardly turnedhook part of the length of which located between the face and backplanes of the arm carrying it whereby the length of hook projectinginwardiy of the face plane of the arm is less than the total length ofthe hook.

3. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member including a long arm and ashort arm connected together side by side, the long arm being turnedadjacent its extremity toward the short arm and further turned betweenthe first turn and the extremity and close to the first turn but to agreater extent away from the short arm, thereby forming an outwardlyturned hook, part of the length of which is located between the face andback planes of the arm carrying it, whereby the length of hookprojecting outwardly of the face plane of the arm is less than the totallength of the hook.

4. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member .in-' cluding a long arm, ashort arm inclined thereto and a curved portion connecting the divergentends of the arms, and portions at the free end of the short armprojecting respectively inwardly and outwardly of the arm.

5. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member including a long arm, ashort arm inclined thereto and a curved portion connecting the divergentends of the arms, and portions at the free end of the long armprojecting respectively inwardly and outwardly of the arm.

6. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member including a long arm, ashort arm inclined thereto, and a curved portion connecting thedivergent ends of the arms, and portions at the free ends of the armsprojecting inwardly and outwardly of each arm.

'7. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip formed by bending astrip of metaland including a laterally turned hook at one extremity of the strip, theactual length of which hook is in excess of the required effectivelength, the strip being bent op positely to the hook at a point close tothe root of the hook whereby apart of the length of the hook is locatedbetween the face and back planes of the strip, relative to the hook,leaving the length of that portion projecting beyond the face plane ofthe strip of the required effective length.

8. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip formed by bending a strip of metaland including a laterally turned hook, the length of which projectingbeyond the face plane of the strip, relative to the hook, is less thanthe length of strip which can be held and bent to form the hook, theroot portion of the hook being located between the face and back planesof the strip and the strip including a portion adjacent the hook bentoutwardly of the back plane of the strip to the opposite side thereoffrom the hook and reversely bent into alignment with the hook.

9. A rail anchor including a clamp for attachment to one flange of arail base and formed to present a seat portion beneath such flangeinclining toward the opposite flange of the base, and a spring clipcomprising a strip of material so bent that passage of the same betweenthe converging surfaces of the flange bottom and the underlying clampseat to move the leading end of the strip past the edge of the oppositeflange will cause upward pressure of said leading end against the flangebottom and partial straight ening of the clip, said clip including ahook at its leading end formed by bending the metal of the clip, thelength of said hook projecting from the face plane of the adjacent clipportion being only sufficient, when engaged with the flange edge, tosecurely hold the clip against retreat by reason of its spring actionbetween the converging rail and clamp surfaces, thereby to minimizestraightening of the clip, and being less in length than the length ofstrip which can'be held and bent to form the hook, the root portion ofthe hook being located between the face and back I planes of theadjacent strip portion and the strip including a portion .close to theroot of the hook bent outwardly of the back plane of the strip to theopposite side thereof from the hook and reversely bent into alignmentwith the hook whereby the necessary length of material is obtained inthe hook for bending the same.

10. A rail anchor including a clamp for attachment to one flange of arail base and adapted to present a seat portion beneath such flangeinclining toward the opposite flange of the base, and a spring clipcomprising a strip of material formed at one end into a hook and so bentthat passage of the same between the converging surfaces of the flangebottom and the underlying clamp seat to move the hooked end into hookingengagement with the edge of the opposite flange will cause fiexion ofthe clip with tendency to retreat by reason of its spring action betweenthe converging rail and clamp surfaces, said clip including a projectiontherefrom positioned to pass the clamp prior to engagement of the hookedend of the clip with the edge of the base flange and to hold the clipagainst retreat through the clamp.

11. A rail anchor including a clamp for a tachment to one flange of arail base and adapted to presentv a seat portion beneath such flangeinclining toward the opposite flange of the base, and a spring clipcomprising a strip of metal bent to provide long and short armsconverging toward their free ends and forming a normally open loopadapted for compr ssion by forcible introduction between the rail baseand clamp seat with the long arm engaging the rail adjacent the edges ofits flanges and the short arm engag ing the clamp seat, said long armbeing curved to space the same from the rail base between the points ofengagement, a hook on the end of the long arm to engage the flange edgeopposite the clamp, and a hook on the end of the short arm to pressagainst the long arm at approximately the point of maximum spacing fromthe rail base with straightening effect in the long arm, the short armbeing bent adjacent its hook away from the long arm to locate a portionof the length of the hook between the face and back planes or the armfor absorption of excess hook length and to obtain a predeterminedeffective hook length such as will avoid undesirable straightening ofthe long arm.

12. A rail anchor including a clamp for attachment to one flange of arail base and adapted to present a seat portion beneath such flangeinclining toward the opposite flange of the base, and a spring clipcomprising a strip of metal bent to provide long and short armsconverging toward their free ends and forming a normally open loopadapted for compression by forcible introduction between the rail baseand clamp seat with the long arm engaging the rail adjacent the edges ofits flanges and the short arm engaging the clamp seat, said. long armbeing curved to space the same from the rail base between the points ofengagement, a hook on the end of the long arm to engage the flange edgeopposite the clamp and a hook on the end of the short arm to pressagainst the long arm at approximately the point of maximum spacing fromthe rail base with straightening effect in the long arm, the short armbeing bent adjacent its hook away from the long arm to form a projectionoutward of the back plane of the short arm positioned to pass the clampprior to hooking engagement of the flange edge by the hook of the longarm, said projection forming a stop serving to hold the clip againstretreat through the clamp due to expansive action of the compressedloop.

13. A rail anchor including a clamp for attachment to one flange of arail base and adapted to present a seat portion beneath such flangeinclining toward the opposite flange of the base, and a spring clipcomprising a strip of metal bent to provide long and short armsconverging toward their free ends and forming a normally open loopadapted for compression by forcible introduction between the rail baseand clamp seat with the long arm engaging the rail adjacent the edges ofits flanges and the short arm engaging the clamp seat, said long armbeing curved to space the same from the rail base between the points ofengagement, a hook on the end of the long arm to engage the flange edgeopposite the clamp and a hook on the end of the short arm to pressagainst the long arm at ap" proximately the point of maximum spacingfrom the rail base with straightening effect in the long arm, the shortarm being bent adjacent its hook away from the long arm to locate aportion of the length of the hook between the face and back planes ofthe arm for absorption of excess hook length and to obtain apredetermined effective hook length such as willavoid undesirablestraightening of the long arm and to form a projection outward of theback plane of the short arm positioned to pass the clamp prior tohooking engagement of the flange edge by the hook of the long arm, saidprojection forming a stop serving to hold the clip against retreatthrough the clamp due to expansive action of the compressed loop.

14. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member comprising a strip ofmaterial bent at one end to form a hook and bent intermediate its endsto form a loop and bent into a hook at the second end, the length ofsaid last mentioned hook being in excess of a predetermined maximum,said strip of metal being further bent adjacent the last mentioned hookand in the opposite direction to the bend of the hook, the amount oflast mentioned bend being sufficient to set the hook back a distanceequal to any excessive length whereby the projection of the hook beyondthe strip is not more than the said maximum.

15. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member comprising a strip ofmaterial bent at one end to form a hook and bent at a point materiallyspaced from the hook and in the opposite direction to said hook to forma loop and two arms, and bent at the remaining end to form on the secondarm a hook projecting toward the first arm between the first hook andthe loop bend, the length of said second hook being in excess of apredetermined maximum, said strip being bent in the second arm adjacentthe second hook and away from the first arm an amount sufiicient to setthe hook back a distance equal to any excessive length thereof, wherebythe projection of the hook beyond the second arm is not more than saidmaximum.

16. In a rail anchor, a resilient clip member comprising a strip ofmaterial bent at one end to form a hook and bent at a material distancefrom the hook and in the same direction to form a loop and two arms, thesecond arm extending across the end of the hook, and further bent at theend of the second arm and oppositely to the loop bend to form a secondhook, the length of said second hook being in excess of a predeter- T1mined maximum, the second arm being bent adjacent the second hook and inthe opposite directlon an amount sufficient to set the hook back adistance equal to any excessive length thereof whereby the projection ofthe hook beyond the 1 second arm is not more than the said maximum.

1'7. In ,a rail anchor, a resilient clip member comprising a strip ofmaterial bent intermediate its ends to form a pair of arms lying side byside and also bent at its extremities to form hooks, the actual lengthsof which are in excess of predetermined maximum, the arms being bentadjacent the hooks but in the opposite direction to the respective hooksan amount sufficient to set the hooks back each through a distance equalto the excess length thereof, whereby the projection of each hook beyondthe arm carrying it is not more than the said maximum.

18. Ina rail anchor, a clamp comprising a member notched in one edge toembrace one flange of a rail base and to be positioned at an incline,the member having its edge opposite the notch formed to provide a cornerapproximately in line with that edge of the notch designed forengagement with the bottom of the rail base, which corner is adapted toproject farther laterally from a rail to which the clamp is attachedthan any other part of the clamp, and a clip member adapted toco-operate with the clamp and a rail to hold the clamp to the rail.

19. In a rail anchor, a clip member having one end bent laterally toform ,a hook, the clip member adjacent the hooked end being reversely.bent so that the efiective length of the hook is V less than its actuallength.

20. In a rail anchor, a clip member including a hooked end projecting atone side of the clip, the clip adjacent the hook being bent back in thedirection opposite to that in which the hooked end projects, whereby theeffective length of the hook is decreased.

21. In a rail anchor a clip member including a substantially straightportion to engage a rail base, having one end bent laterally to form ahook to engage the rail base edge, the clip member adjacent the hookedend being bent away from the rail base so that the effectiverail-engaging portion of the hook is less than its actual length.

22. In a rail anchor, a clamp member formed from a rectangular metalplate notched at one edge to embrace one rail base flange and so thatthe plate will incline inwardly beneath the rail base, the upper outercorner of the plate being removed whereby the remaining portion of theplate which projects farthest laterally from the rail is substantiallyin line with the bottom of the rail base.

23. In a rail anchor, a clamp member formed from a rectangular metalplate bent into a U- shape, with the two legs of the bent plate notchedat an angle to engage one flange of a rail with the looped portion ofthe plate projecting beneath the rail base, the upper outer corners ofthe legs being removed whereby the portions of the plate which projectfarthest laterally from the rail are substantially in the plane of thebottom of the rail base.

24. In a rail anchor, a clamp member for attachment to one edge of arail base, a resilient clip member to be compressed at one end betweensaid clamp member and the base of a rail carrying the clamp member, saidclip member being adapted at its other end to engage the edge of a railbase opposite the clamp member, and a projecting portion on one of saidmembers to engage the other member and hold the two against separationdue to recoil of the clip member during application to a rail.

25. In a rail anchor, a clamp member for attachment to one edge of arail base and presenting a clip engaging surface beneath a rail base, aresilient clip member hooked at one end to engage that edge of a railbase opposite the clamp member and including a resilient looped portionpresenting a clamp engaging surface, the said loop being designed to becompressed between the rail base and clamp with retroactive efiect tohold its hooked end against the edge of the rail base, and aprojection'from one of said mutually engaging member surfaces engageablewith the other member to hold the members against separation due to theretroactive or recoil effect of the loop when the clip is out of hookingengagement with a rail base.

26. In a rail anchor, a clamp member to engage one edge of a rail baseand including a clip seat to be disposed beneath the rail, a clip memberhooked at one end to engage that edge of a rail base opposite the clampmember and including a resilient loop to rest upon the seat portion ofthe clamp member and to be compressed between said seat and a rail base,said clamp seat and clip loop presenting shoulders for mutual engagementto check recoil movement of the clip due to expansive action of itsloop.

27. In a rail anchor, a clamp comprising a member notched in one edge toembrace one flange of a rail base, both edges of said notch being out ofnormal to the edge of the member whereby the outer end of one of saidnotch edges lies opposite a point intermediate the ends of the otheredge, the angle between the edges of the notch being slightly less thanthe angle between the upper and lower surfaces of the rail base flangefor which the clamp is adapted.

28. In a rail anchor, a clamp comprising a member notched in one edge toembrace one flange of a rail base, the edges of said notches being ofdifferent lengths whereby the outer end of the shorter edge liesopposite a point intermediate the ends of the other edge, the anglebetween the edges of the notch being slightly less than the anglebetween the upper and lower surfaces of the rail base flange for whichthe clamp is adapted.

29. In a rail anchor, a clamp comprising a member notched in one edge toembrace one flange of a rail base, the angle between the edges of thenotch being less than the angle between the upper and lower surfaces ofthe rail base flange for which the clamp is adapted, whereby the clampwill grip the rail base flange most tightly at the open end of thenotch, the edges of said notch being of unequal length whereby the pointof greatest pressure of the short edge on the rail base is opposite apoint intermediate the ends of the longitudinal edge and tends to holdthe entire length of the long edge firmly against the rail base flange.

30. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported below the rail base; said retaining member including a portionoverlying said seat and resting upon said seat at the end thereofnearest the other rail base flange and spaced above the intermediateportion and opposite end portion of said seat, said retaining memberfurther including a portion extending transversely beneath the rail andterminating in a hook adapted to engage the edge of the other rail baseflange,

31. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base at.an inclination upward toward theother 125 flange of said rail base; said retaining member including aportion overlying said seat and resting upon the upper end portion ofsaid seat and elsewhere spaced above the seat, said retaining memberfurther including a portion extending 130 transversely beneath the railand terminating in a hook adapted to engage the edge of the other railbase flange.

32. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base at an inclination upward toward theother flange of said rail base; said retaining member 140 including aresilient loop portion overlying the seat and a portion extending fromthe loop portion transversely beneath the rail base and terminating in ahook adapted to engage the edge of the other rail base flange, said loopportion. 1'45 having a lower surface disposed at an inclination slightlyless than the inclination of the seat and engaging the upper end portionof the seat and elsewhere spaced above the seat.

33. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping 150 member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base at an inclination upward toward theother flange of said rail base; said retaining member being formed of abar of metal bent at one end to form a hook adapted to engage the edgeof the other rail base flange and bent intermediate its ends to form onone side of the bend a long arm carrying said hoolr, and on the otherside of the bend a short arm inclining toward an intermediate point ofthe long arm, said arms and the bend defining a loop; the said retainingmember being, when assembled with the gripping member on a rail,arranged with the loop thereof overlying the gripping member seat andone of said arms inclining similarly to the seat but at lesserinclination than the seat and resting upon the upper end portion of theseat and elsewhere spaced above the seat.

34.. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base at an inclination upward toward theother flange of said rail base; said retaining member being formed of abar of metal bent at one end to form a hook adapted to engage the edgeof the other rail base flange and bent intermediate its ends to form onone side of the bend a long arm carrying said hook, and on the otherside of the bend a short arm inclining toward an intermediate point ofthe long arm, said arms and the bend defining a loop; the said retainingmember, when assembled with the gripping member on a rail, beingarranged with the loop thereof overlying the gripping member seat andthe short arm inclining similarly to the seat but at lesser inclinationthan the seat and resting upon the upper portion of the seat andelsewhere spaced above the seat.

35. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base, said retaining member resting, whenassembled with the gripping member on a rail, only intermediate its endson said seat and at its ends engaging the rail base flangesrespectively.

36. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base, said retaining member resting, whenassembled with the gripping member on a rail, only intermediate its endson said seat and thrusting upwardly at its ends against the lowersurfaces of the rail base flanges respectively.

37. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a connecting web presenting a seatportion adapted to be supported beneath the rail base intermediate theedges thereof; said retaining member being adapted to engage with therail base flanges at locations spaced laterally on each side of saidseat portion and having a lower surface portion resting upon said seatportion and inclined relatively to the lower surface of the rail duringapplication to a rail and adapted upon movement of the retaining membertransversely of the rail to thrust the retaining member upwardly againstthe rail base flanges.

38. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base intermediate the edges thereof; saidretaining member including an intermediate portion resting upon the seatand spaced below the rail base and end portions bearing against the railbase on opposite sides of the intermediate portion, said end portionsbeing unsupported beneath their points of engagement with the rail base.

39. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported beneath the rail base intermediate the edges thereof; saidretaining member including a hook at one end to engage the edge of theother rail base flange and a loop at the opposite end presenting aninclined lower surface resting upon said seat and an upper surfacebearing against the bottom of that rail base flange engaged by thegripping member at a point horizontally nearer the rail base edge thanthe engagement with the seat.

40. A rail anchor comprising a rail gripping member and a separatelyformed retaining member; said gripping member including jaws adapted toengage one flange of a rail base and a seat portion adapted to besupported below the rail base, said seat portion projecting upwardly atits inner end; said retaining member including at one end a hook adaptedto engage the edge of the other rail base flange and at the other end aloop adapted to be compressed between said seat and the rail base, saidloop being formed in its lower surface with a recess for the receptionof the upwardly projecting end of the seat.

FRANCIS W. COOPER.

